Fence.



PATENTED JUNE 13, 1905.

J. McK. SUTHERLAND.

FENCE APPLICATION FILED FEB.11,1905.

$1 wantoz flaws v Witnuowo Patented June 13, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH MoKAY SUTHERLAND, OF SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA.

FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 792,476, dated June 13,1905.

Application filed February 11, 1905. Serial No. 245,281.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J OSEPH MoKAY Surn- ERLAND, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Sioux Falls, in the county of Minnehaha and State ofSouth Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFences; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in fences,and more particularly to stays therefor.

One of the objects of the invention is the production of a stay whichhas its longitudinal edges reinforced by means of peculiarlyconstructing the body of the stay.

Another object of the invention is the improvement of a stay which isadapted to be positioned upon the strands of a fence intermediate of theposts, said stay provided with reinforced notched edges for receivingthe strands of wire and locking means for securing the strands and staysin an assembled position.

WVhile I have mentioned some of the ob-' jects of the present invention,the same also consists of certain other novel constructions,combinations, and arrangements of parts, as will be hereinafter fullydescribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a portion of afence constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is aperspective view of the preferred form of my improved stay, illustratingthe position of strands when retained in a locked position therewith.Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is afragmentary perspective'view of my improved stay, which is provided withreinforced ends.

My improved stay is to be employed in the construction of fences whichemploys either wooden, stone, or cement posts, said posts beingpositioned a considerable distance apart, owlng to certain conditionsexisting when constructing said fenceas, for instance, the scarcity oftimber or the expense of constructing a'fence with stone or cementposts. Of course stone or cement posts are preferable where it is likelythat fires would destroy the fence. Furthermore, it will be obvious thatwhile the posts may be spaced a considerabledistance apart, still theymay be positioned under certain conditions close together withoutaffecting the function of the stays, which are positioned upon thestrands of a fence. The stays may be made of different lengths, as itwill be obvious that in Fig. 1 I have shown short as well as long stays.The short stays are preferably positioned upon the lower strands of thefence, while the long stays are positioned upon all of the strands.Owing to the fact that it is comparatively inexpensive to construct thebody of the stay semicylindrical in shape, I have shown as my preferredstructure a semicylindrical stay, although other shapes of the body maybe made without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention, provided said bodies are formed with reinforced longitudinaledges, said reinforced edges being formed by turning over or, in otherwords, bending back upon the body of the stay a comparatively smallportion of each of the longitudinal edges of the stay and thentransversely notching the double-walled edge. Furthermore, uponreferring to Fig. 4 it will be seen that I have shown a stay which isprovided not only with reinforced longitudinal edges, but also with endssimilarly constructed, as will be hereinafter more specificallydescribed.

Referring to the drawings by reference-numerals, 1 designates thestationary posts, and 2 thelongitudinal strands of the fence. While Ihave shown in the drawings the strands being secured to the posts 1 byfastening means driven into the posts, I desire it to be understood thatthe posts may be provided with longitudinal apertures. as clearlydisclosed in my Patent No. 782,083, relating to improvements in fences,issued February 14, 1905. The strands of the fence are threaded throughthe longitudinal apertures and drawn taut by any suitable means and maybe wound around a post for securing the strands in a tight position, ifdesired, or other fastening means may be employed for holding thestrands when separated. Positioned upon the strands intermediate theposts are semicylindrical or U- shaped stays 3 and 4c.

In constructing a fence employing my stays it is found desirable forproducing a comparatively inexpensive structure to employ long stays 3,as well as intermediate short stays 4:.

As the construction of stays 3 and 4 is simigitudinal edges 6 areprovided with notches or cut-out portions 7, each pair of which areformed in alinement transversely of the stay for receiving a strand ofthe fence. Each notch 7 is provided with double walls, for it is a factthat the notched portion of the bent portion 5 forms one wall, while theopposite portion of the body of the stay also forms another. By means ofthis double-walled structure of each notch a more durable and efficientdevice is produced.

Referring to Fig. 4:, I have shown a stay which is provided withreinforced ends 8, as well as reinforced edges 6. The reinforced ends 8are formed by bending the edges of the blank from which the stay is tobe formed before the body of the stay is bent into the semicylindricalstructure of a completed stay. After the blank has been bent for formingthe reinforced ends then said blank may be bent for producing thesemicylindrical body.

After the strands have been positioned within the notches 7 of the stay,or more properly speaking, after the stay has been positioned upon thestrands of the fence such strands must be positively secured within thenotches, and this is done by the employment of locking members 9 and 10.The locking members are positioned between the body of the stay and thereinforced edges 6 and the strands 2 within space 11, as will be clearlyseen upon referring to Fig. 3. Of course this lockingmember-receivingspace 11 will not be produced until the strands engage the farthest endsof the double-walled notched portions of the reinforced edges. When thestay is in its proper position upon the strands, the lockingmembers arepositioned upon said stay for preventing of the same from becomingdisplaced. It is preferable to construct all of the locking memberssimilarly, although I have shown in Fig. 2 locking members 9 and 10slightly different in structure. The locking member 9, as wellas 10, isprovided with abent or hooked end 11, which prevents of the memberbecom- 5 ing displaced by longitudinal downward movement after it hasbeen positioned upon the stay. While the locking member 9 is of the samethickness at its lower end 12 as the body of the same, the lockingmember is provided with a slightly-enlarged portion 13 at its lower end.This portion 13 may be formed in any suitable manner. While it is notnecessary to form the head or enlarged portion 13 upon the bottom of themember, in some instances it may be preferable to do so, for the reasonthat this enlarged portion 13 will positively prevent of the memberworking upward, as the strands will tend to press outward upon thelocking member, thereby causing the member to bear against the edgeportion 6 of the stay, and the slight obstruction or enlarged portion 13will be suflicient to form a stop or lock for preventing of longitudinalmovement of the member. By reason of the structure of the ends oflocking member 10 means is produced thereon for preventing of itslongitudinal displacement under normal conditions after the same hasbeen positioned upon a stay, which is mounted upon the strands of afence.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A stay, comprising a body portion, said body portion provided withits ends and longitudinal edges bent back in substantially parallelposition with the body for forming reinforcing means thereon, and saidbody provided with notches.

2. A stay formed of a folded sheet of material, said sheet reinforcedupon all of its edges, and strand-supporting means formed upon saidfolded sheet.

3. A stay, comprising a body formed of a folded metallic sheet, saidbody provided with reinforced strand supporting longitudinal edges andreinforced ends.

1. The combination with a strand, of a stay provided with a bentportion, said bent portion provided with a notch, said strand positionedwithin the notched portion of said stay, a locking member positionedbetween the bent portion of said stay for retaining the strand Withinsaid notch, said locking member provided with a hook formed upon one endand with an enlarged portion formed upon the opposite end, the hookedand enlarged portion of said locking member preventing longitudinalmovement of the same upon the stay.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH MGKAY SU'IHERLAND.

Witnesses:

G. E. MCKINNEY, D. L. MCKINNEY.

